Sickies costing nation up to $30b per year

TASMANIAN workers are among the least likely in Australia to take "sickies".

However, Generations Y and X and the ageing Baby Boomers are all presenting challenges to employers, with sickies estimated to cost the national economy $27billion to $30billion a year in lost productivity and absenteeism costs.

Older workers averaged fewer absences, but were more likely to take longer ones.

Mr Dundon said older workers tended to have more serious and more advanced health conditions, and many faced stress, anxiety and depression.

Asked if mental health issues were more common in older workers, he said they were "across the board", and the reported increase in such issues among younger workers had been massive in recent years.

Part of that, he believed, was people had become more open about such matters.

Asked about the differences in absenteeism between Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and the Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), he said there was "a bit more of a don't care attitude" among Generation X.